Posts with the Tag “World Cafe”

The 300-page book, The World Cafe, was written by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs and published April 2005. In the first comprehensive book on the World Café, co-founders Brown and Isaacs introduce readers to this simple yet powerful conversational process for thinking together, evoking collective intelligence, and creating actionable results. Beautifully illustrated with stories contributed by World Café practitioners, this is still the most definitive compendium of Café Know-How available. Available in Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Simple Chinese, Complex Chinese, German, Korean, and Thai. Below is an […] (continue)

Written by NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher to expand upon the text on our “What Are Dialogue & Deliberation?” page. This resource provides enough details to enable you to decide which of these leading dialogue and deliberation methods you should learn more about. In addition to looking at which methods fit your intentions, you will need to consider which methods are aligned with your resources, timeline, and the people you feel need to be involved. The text below is drawn from NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework. AmericaSpeaks […] (continue)

Possibilities for Transformational Conferences is an 8-page primer on how to plan events for 50 or more people that are interactive, engaging, and generally fabulous. Author Tree Bressen (with Debby Sugarman and Sunrise Facilitation) briefly introduces techniques for making events more participatory and engaging, including Open Space Technology, World Cafe, Appreciative Inquiry, fishbowls, “speed dating,” storytelling, and more. Download at http://treegroup.info/topics/Transformational_Conferences.pdf. About Tree Bressen… From her home in Eugene, Oregon, Tree Bressen consults with a wide variety of organizations on how to have meetings that […] (continue)

Imagine Chicago is a Chicago-based nonprofit that facilitates and trains people in community visioning practices. Founded by Bliss Browne in 1992, the organization utilizes a three-step process of understanding what is, imagining what could be through collaboration, and creating what will be through action. Its community visioning and planning model incorporates Appreciative Inquiry (with an emphasis on intergenerational collaboration), Open Space Technology, the World Café, and asset based community development. This approach has inspired the creation of Imagine and other community planning projects spanning six […] (continue)

The purpose of the White House’s Open Government Directive (OGD) is to change the culture of federal agencies so that they are more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. The OpenGov Playbook (at www.opengovplaybook.org) is a place for open government practitioners at the federal, state, and local levels to share questions and effective practices about the Directive. Knowledge about the OGD is spread out across the Web; the primary purpose of this wiki-based site is to serve as a useful directory to those resources. The Playbook also […] (continue)

The theme for Arsalyn’s 2007 annual youth conference, which took place in D.C. August 9-12, 2007, was “Bridging the Partisan Divide: Rediscovering Deliberation,” and NCDD was proud to play a major role at the event. Arsalyn invited 150 young people ages 16-20 to the 2007 conference to learn the art of political deliberation. This event is part of a series of conferences geared toward helping young people – especially politically active youth – develop skills that will help them communicate effectively with those of opposing […] (continue)

This manual teaches the Conversation Café method in detail. This is the simplest process we know and one that has a proven track record to be easily and reliably adopted by hosts who may have no previous experience - as well as by skilled facilitators. This manual provides a process that will honor LTA principles and enable you to take the conversation from small talk to big talk in a way that allows everyone to feel respected, safe and heard. With a little study and preparation, your conversation can create a positive and empowering experience for all. (continue)

We were thrilled at the amount of involvement AND the amount of support the Core Principles for Public Engagement project received from our community. The following organizations and individuals have endorsed the collaboratively-created Core Principles for Public Engagement. Email Sandy Heierbacher, NCDD’s Director, at sandy@thataway.org, if you or your organization would like to endorse the principles as well. View the Core Principles at www.ncdd.org/pep or download the full PDF principles document, which includes details about how the principles were developed, a partial list of endorsing […] (continue)

The World Café is an easy-to-use method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter to the real-life situations of your organizations or community. In this beautifully illustrated booklet, Juanita Brown collaborates with Nancy Margulies and the World Café Community to articulate seven guiding principles for people to use to host their own Café. Learn about the thousands of people on five continents who have experienced the World Café, a model for setting up the ideal Café for your group, the roles of the hosts, crafting powerful questions, Café assumptions and etiquette, and more. (continue)

This concise 7-page guide to the World Café (2002) covers the basics of the process. It includes brief outlines of each principle, a description of Café Etiquette, an outline of key elements of the World Café conversations, and tips for creating Café ambiance. Download from www.theworldcafe.com/hosting.htm. (continue)